I am posting this again to show more of the amazing detail of this Art Deco piece, it was my first car mascot and the more that I see it, it really seems to be my favorite or in the top 3 for sure. The detail is so amazing, even his anatomy is correct, which is rare to put that in. I hate having to call it a hood ornament, but unfortunately no category for car mascots which is what the Europeans called them originally.

When I first saw this piece on line I had contacted Tony Wraight of Finesse Fine Art to ask him about this piece. Tony appears to be one of the more famous car mascot authorities and owners. He has had some of the worlds most valuable mascots. I however tend to stay away from the Laliques out there, as I value the metal ones I like better.

This was one of the first Mascots I obtained from Artcurial | Briest - Poulain - F. Tajan Auction house in Paris at their Car auction this month, July 2012. I just got it by Fed-ex July 30th, 2012

Sasportas Batman. This is an exceptionally rare 1920's mascot depicting a flying nude man with bat wings, in purest Art Deco style. Silver plated bronze, signed to base, with foundry stamp behind right wing. Edit. Sasportas was one of the foremost producers of only the very finest mascots in France. They specialised in Art Deco creations, and the name is synonymous with great style and creativity. Described in Michel Legrand book 'Mascottes Passion' Plate 276.

Dimensions : 105mm high, 180mm wingspan.

Condition : Absolutely first class, a totally 100% 1920 original with superb age patination, showing the gentle passing of time. There is absolutely no restoration or replating on this magnificent piece whatsoever, there is some loss to the silver plating but that came with time. A beautiful piece on the 1920 stand which shows just a little wood worm.

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Comments

cogito, 2 years agoWonderful! I'm unclear about these. Were they assigned to a particular car company or model, or were these purely the choice of the individual (i.e., after-market)?

shell59, 2 years agoWow, that is amazing. Did people have those on their cars? I could maybe see it on a really expensive car, very nice.

PhilDavidAlexanderMorris, 2 years agoYes apparently they did, a form of self-expression at the time. Those were days we seem to forget ever happened.

PhilDavidAlexanderMorris, 2 years agoThis one was from 1920, Sasportas also made some interesting snake mascots of which was a favourite of Rudolph Valentino. I know that at that time I would have loved this one, although there were so many wonderful ones, and probably ones we don't even know of. I believe of French mascots alone, there are over 5000 known to exist as also another 2000 that have probably yet to be found, if they ever surface !~ Phil.

Thank you to all the kind people for the love and especially the comments !~

pops52, 2 years agoEverything was made with such beauty, detail and pride back in those days. I wonder how grand it must to have been to live in that time. Or maybe, folks just took it all for granted. Thanks for sharing!

PhilDavidAlexanderMorris, 2 years agoThat is what are wonderful about these pieces pops, I bet there were those people who were really smitten with cars in the first place, and the forms of self expression must have been so out there with these ornaments, I am sure there are those back then who dreamed and saw these ornaments as part of their dream. Thanks for the comment, pops52, much appreciated !~

PhilDavidAlexanderMorris, 2 years agoTo cogito, thank you, a lot of them were made specially for some cars, I have one of a knight that was even made by the Morris company which was a car company in England.